When Joe Perry was not busy last year rocking out with Aerosmith, bottling his Boneyard Brew hot sauce or playing with his grandkids, the guitar player was putting riffs and poetry together for his self-titled solo album --

the first in more than 20 years. Even though it contains covers of the Doors' "The Crystal Ship" and Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man," Perry stays pretty much faithful to his band's stadium-filling blues-rock sound, unlike Rob Thomas, who has miraculously turned into Justin Timberlake on his solo debut. We spoke with Perry on the phone from his Florida home.

Q: You made a solo album without calling Snoop Dogg and the Neptunes. What the hell?

A: I know.

Q: Is that even legal?

A: Well, I've seen every kind of solo album you can think of, from the days when a band would break apart and all the guys would form their own super groups to some of these solo records that people put out and they get everybody in a bunch and start yelling. I guess there are all kinds of ways to do it. It just happened that I did mine this way.

Q: What about Rob Thomas? I'm pretty sure he's required to appear on at least one track.

A: Well, I may do another one where I do ask some of my friends, some of them famous, to sit in. I don't know. But now, it would have felt like a step sideways to bring other people in.

Q: So, what drugs were you on when you recorded the Doors' "The Crystal Ship"?

A: I had enough left over from the old days. I've been in a permanent state of euphoria since, I don't know, 1968.

A: I was just reading some of his poetry and putting some guitar behind it. What happened was I was just driving around and singing along to that first Doors record and I said, "I can do this." That's pretty much it.

Q: Did you try recording your hot sauce on any of the songs? You know, just like the sizzling noise for percussion?

A: No, I should have done that.

Q: If you go on tour you can come out onstage and squirt some hot sauce on your guitar and then light it on fire.

A: Well, I'm only going to do a couple live shows and TV shows, but that's a good idea.

Q: Do you even remember making your first batch of solo albums?

A: Yeah, I do. I remember the period of time was really tumultuous. It was a lot of, like, the band breaking up, me leaving the band, them getting the other guitar player. I made those records in a state of hyperactivity. It was a different time and place. But I do remember making them. There's some good stuff on there and some stuff I find hard listening to today.

Q: Do you remember making this one?

A: Yeah. It wasn't easy. I was supposed to be off during this period of time, and it still looks remarkably like work. I'm talking to the record company six times a week, down in the studio 10 hours a day. But I just felt like I had to get it done. Over the years I've just accumulated a bunch of material and felt like it was time to unload it. It was one of those things I thought I would get around to someday. And then I realized I'm closer to the end than I am the beginning, so it's probably a good time to do it now.